GamePolitics has learned that controversial Miami attorney Jack Thompson faces a disciplinary hearing before a referee appointed by the Florida Supreme Court.

The pending judicial review follows a recent recommendation by the Florida Bar that five counts of professional misconduct against Thompson should proceed to the state's high court for action. If the charges are eventually upheld, Thompson could face disciplinary action up to and including disbarment.

Among the counts of misconduct facing Thompson, three are directly related to the activist attorney's ongoing campaign against video game violence. Those counts involve Thompson's participation as plaintiff's attorney in Strickland vs. Sony, a high-profile lawsuit he brought against several video game industry defendants in Alabama in February, 2005.

In the suit, Thompson represented the families of two Fayette, Alabama police officers and a police dispatcher murdered by an 18-year-old Grand Theft Auto player in 2003. At the time of his arrest for the killings, Devin Moore reportedly said, "Life is like a video game. You have to die sometime." Moore, subsequently convicted of the murders, now sits on Alabama's Death Row. Thompson was not involved in the criminal case against Moore.

As reported by GamePolitics in November of 2005,Alabama Circuit Court Judge James Moore (no relation to Devin), presiding over Thompson's lawsuit against Sony, Rockstar, Take Two, GameStop and Wal-Mart, revoked Thompson's Pro Hac Vice (visiting) license to practice law in Alabama, essentially throwing Thompson off the Strickland case.

In upholding a pair of complaints against Thompson by Judge Moore, the Florida Bar alleges that the outspoken attorney violated numerous professional standards both before and after his Pro Hac Vice status was revoked in Alabama. Among the misconduct alleged by the Bar is Thompson's assertion that a local Alabama attorney claimed he could fix cases before Judge Moore. Among other documents, the Bar's complaint points to a November 28, 2005 motion filed by Thompson with Judge Moore which says:

It is clear that (Judge Moore), whether the 'fixer' is the reason or whether the 'fixer' has combined with other improper influences to jettison justice in this case, must no longer preside over this case

Also cited is a July, 2006 e-mail allegedly sent by Thompson to Judge Moore, the state Bars of Alabama and Florida as well as an attorney with law firm Blank Rome, which represents the video game industry defendants in the Strickland case. That e-mail reads:

You're the guy who wants to give (Grand Theft Auto publisher) Take-Two my scalp. You chose to believe people that you knew were thieves and liars, and now you are their useful SLAPP Bar complainant... These are your corporate criminal buddies, Judge Moore. These are the folks with whom you made your bed, the folks whom your good friend said he could fix the case.

A third count to be considered by the Supreme Court involves a complaint made by Blank Rome, Thompson's opposing counsel in the Strickland case. Among its numerous allegations is a charge that Thompson directly contacted Take Two CEO Paul Eibeler. Included in this count is a December, 2005 message, allegedly sent from Thompson to Eibeler which reads:

Maybe the absolutely dumbest you did was hire Philadelphia's Blank Rome as your law firm of choice to represent you in courtrooms... Blank Rome, also very importantly, managed to lose all motions to dismiss our wrongful death suit in Alabama... We expect to try this case in 2006. We expect to take at that trial every single penny Take-Two currently has.

The two remaining counts alleged by the Florida Bar relate to Thompson's professional conduct in relation to his ongoing battle against the airing of shock radio in South Florida.

Asked to comment by GamePolitics, Thompson said:

A referee is appointed and we have a trial. The Supreme Court reviews it later. The trial isn't going to happen, however. I have sued The Bar in Circuit Court. It's in far more trouble than I am.

Thompson declined GP's request to share a copy of the current lawsuit against the Florida Bar. However, an earlier federal suit filed by Thompson against the Bar in October of 2006 was dismissed by U.S. District Court Judge Paul Huck in late December. In ruling against Thompson's suit versus the Bar, Judge Huck wrote:

Thompson submits nothing beyond wild accusations of a vast conspiracy against him that the Bar is unfairly proceeding against him.

It is unclear at this point when a hearing on the Bar's allegations may take place.

Comments

Im writing beacuse i want to know if there is a sofware to prevent my losing hearing whan i play games on line..

Ive been playing this game for almos 2 years, playing it 3 o 5 times during the week, im studying to become a pilot as well, well i really like to know what software can i download of if somebody know any program which i could get to install on my laptop to prevent this noise when im shooting my weapon.

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[...] teen titans background pics The Florida Supreme court is having a disciplinary hearing on Jack Thompson following a recommendation by the the Florida Bar which could lead to him loosing his license to practice law. Could this be the beginning of the end for Jack Thompson? teen titans collectable card gameread more | digg story [...]

Now, to those of you stating that jack will find away out of this, I doubt it.

Do not forget, this is not some circuit court, this is the Supreme, and not even jack can bully them without bringing the force of the entire legal system against him. You don't screw with the Supreme court.

Secondly, Disbarrment is not only likely, it might be the only punishment that fits the crime so to speak, at this point, he's proven that censure, warning, and other less severe forms of punishment mean nothing to him. So, at this point, the Supreme court might have no choice but to put and end to his career once and for all.

Ahh, finally, after years of advocating it, ti's finally happening, jack thompsons being dished out the same legal attacks he loved to dish out.

The Florida Supreme court is having a disciplinary hearing on Jack Thompson following a recommendation by the the Florida Bar which could lead to him loosing his license to practice law. Could this be the beginning of the end for Jack Thompson?...

Sadly, I don't think anything is going to happen with this. Every other time a complain has been filed, the Florida Bar just turns a blind eye to his misconduct, like a parent who can't parent. As a result, Jack wins every time, and WE have to hear about it in one of his childish "I rule, you suck" emails. But if they're going to the supreme court... ehh, he'll still get out scott free, it's his way. However it would be good if some action was taken against him. I mean, come on, Jack is so crazy, he makes KEFKA look sane, and sane Kefka is not.

Ah, professionalism. It's nice to see GP continuing to honor the personal requests of JT, a man who thinks it proper to post the private phone numbers of his perceived enemies, and just last week refused to objectively comment on three questions raised by the site.

It's good to remember things like these, because it builds a stronger character case against him. As much as JT has a habit of making grandly offensive proclamations about his critics - which I can say this since it's an undisputed fact, as his constant insults are childish and beneath his station - this is the proper way to deal with his self-marketing campaign. You have to paint a clear picture of who he is and how he treats people who prior to listening to him have been unprovoked.

Methinks its time to start a new Deadpool on Thompson's career - I had run one on my old blog (OLD blog), but I might just be time to start up a new one. I'll see what I can do to find a good method so I don't have to manually write up each entry.

[...] Karma is making her rounds and Jack Thompson is looking to be on top of that list. As GamePolitics reports, Thompson was recommended for review following five counts of professional misconduct (three related to his video game violence campaign). If the charges hold up in front of the Florida Supreme Court, Thompson faces disciplinary action and possible disbarment. [...]

"Thompson submits nothing beyond wild accusations of a vast conspiracy against him that the Bar is unfairly proceeding against him."

Oh please somebody say he has tape recorded conversations where he discusses all the people who are conspiring against him in a Nixon-esque way! I would buy that before "In harm's way II: even harmer".

Like most people said here, I don't think this disbarment will happen. JT has a way of sneeking away with things like this. But even if he dose get away, this will be a HUGE black mark on his name. We'll all just have to wait till the dust clears. All I know for shure is wether he gets disbared or not, he won't change his mind about the "evils" of video games, and still come after games and game players.

What gets me is the last line though. "Thompson submits nothing beyond wild accusations of a vast conspiracy against him that the Bar is unfairly proceeding against him."

To my knowledge, Jack's been making wild accusations of vast conspiracies for a while again a lot of folks, not just the Bar. Lets see, there's the ESRB, that Utah A.G., Tycho and Gabe, Scott from VG Cats, normal video game fans, and a lot of other folks. So... hey, this is nothing new. Haha. I hope this means we're seeing Disbarment proceedings now.

I've believe its called a syllogism.
Jack Thompson is always right.
Jack Thompson is fighting evil corporations.
Therefore
Anyone who disagrees with Jack Thompson has been corrupted by the evil corporations.
What more proof do you need?
As for JT getting disbarred, I don't think it'll happen. The universe has a notorious track record for being unfair.

Don't get too excited guys...this guy manipulates the laws too much(remember how he got out of the bully trouble?). While we all know this guy goes nuts all the dang time he has also shown that he can put on a mask of sanity. Between the sanity mask and law manipulation I doubt much will happen...I could be wrong though...

I doubt he'll get disbarred during this. He'd probably have to do something actually criminal before they'd give him the maximum penalty. You know like threatening physical harm to witnesses, or fabricating evidence.

Still I doubt this'll be pleasant for him. I don't think courts particularly like lawyers who accuse judges of being for sale just because the judge came down against them about something.

Nor am I. It should be a sure thing, given Thompson's often inappropriate, unprofessional, and even unethical conduct, but I'll wait to see how this plays out before getting too excited. He seems to have a knack for weaseling his way out of responsibility. Maybe this time he'll actually be held accountable.

Well, no matter what happens, this only works against him if he wants to be taken seriously. Perhaps it's slim, but being disbarred would be a huge blow to him. He might continue his public tirades but I have a feeling a lot more people, especially government officials, are going to work with him.

On the other hand, racking up this many complaints in what? About 2 years? Even if he's spared disbarment, this is likely going to hurt.

Ironically, I expect that if he doesn't get barred what they do to him in staid will anger him to the point that his attacks become even wilder, thus making him more likely to be disbarred in the future.

It sounds like the Florida Bar has had enough of Thompson, don't forget that he has faced discliplinary action by the Bar before. I'm willing to bet that this time it will be much harder to wriggle out of. I knew that sooner or later he would have his come-uppance.

Dennis,
In the recent case of John Bruce trying to prevent Bully from being distributed, didn't the judge, at the time, state he was filing a complaint with the Florida Bar? Are those complaints to be handled seperately or will they also be handled by this "referee".

And, frankly, it seems rather appropriate for a "referee" to handle this part. Makes it truly sound like... well, a game. Though I suspect John Bruce is thinking that irony sucks right about now. :)

What about the contempt of court charge relating to the Bully debacle? Aren't they factoring in that as well?

I knew that eventually he'd getenough complaints against him that sooner or later the Flordia Bar would be forced to deal with him. I'm surprised it took them this long.

I have to agree with Brainswarm, though. Even if he's disbarred, he won't go away completely. I can see him becoming some sort of traveling minister or something, speaking at various churches and continuing to rail against games ow whatever else in pop cutlure he deems "evil."

At least the good news would be that stripped of his license, he could no longer abuse his profession and flaunt his authority to bring forth frivolous lawsuits and otherwise use the law like a blunt instrument.

"Thompson submits nothing beyond wild accusations of a vast conspiracy against him that the Bar is unfairly proceeding against him."

I don't know where Jack gets all these crazy ideas. It has never occurred to him that his Florida Bar problems are due to his conduct. He's convinced they're just "out to get him". And Blank Rome is out to get him. And Take Two. Is he going to get disbarred? Maybe he'll get let off easy this time, but if he doesn't change his ways (and he won't) I know something will happen to him.

Thompson's world is about to crumble. Not sure how much of it will fall, but its very dependent on the fiasco we see here. Thompson is using his power like a child now. He is in way over his head. This entire time we've heard of him, he fits the same symptoms of a senile man. I'm no doctor, but I'm sure of it.
The media feeds him way too much. He's the hungry hungry hippo of the media.
*Chomp*

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Sora-Chan: Wikipedia has rarely let me down on matters like this. But yeah... AC needs a break.. like two.. or three... or eight years.03/31/2015 - 2:51pm

Conster: There's 9 already?! I think I played 1, 2, and the ones inbetween 2 and 3.03/31/2015 - 2:23pm

Sora-Chan: Con't There are now Nine... of just the main entries into the series. There are 13 more in the "other games" department.03/31/2015 - 2:15pm

Sora-Chan: I tried to get into AC. Was having a decent time with the first one, at which point they had already released three titles. Then a fourth came out... then a fifth... the wall kept growing before I could finish the first.03/31/2015 - 2:14pm

Daniel Lewis: I think ubisoft should give AC a break before it's milked to death,and i'm a big fan of the games03/31/2015 - 1:15pm

Daniel Lewis: The only thing said i disagree with is the final quote on Men's experiences are seen to be universal but women are gendered,though doesn't anita say that games with male protagonists are male power fantasies,so in turn both are gendered03/31/2015 - 1:08pm

Daniel Lewis: i found the video to be much better than any of the TvW series and it's about time the positive women are put in the spotlight03/31/2015 - 1:06pm

Daniel Lewis: So feministfrequency released a positive female character video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXmj2yJNUmQ03/31/2015 - 1:05pm

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james_fudge: Conster: the larger issue is that Ind. does not protect LGBTQ+ people under state law03/31/2015 - 12:11pm

PHX Corp: @MP I think it is confirmed(not an April Fools joke) http://mynintendonews.com/2015/03/31/nintendo-direct-confirmed-for-wednesday-april-1st/03/31/2015 - 12:00pm

Conster: Apparently Pence intends to amend SB101 so denying service isn't allowed - without explicitly protecting LGBT+ and while still allowing the many other things you can get away with now if it's motivated by your religious beliefs.03/31/2015 - 11:53am

MaskedPixelante: http://mynintendonews.com/2015/03/30/rumour-nintendo-direct-on-april-1st/ A supposed full leak of tomorrow's Nintendo Direct, so you can all laugh and laugh about how wrong it is.03/31/2015 - 11:35am

PHX Corp: http://kotaku.com/why-a-tekken-7-character-is-being-called-a-phoney-1694724959 Why a Tekken 7 Character Is Being Called a Phoney03/31/2015 - 10:08am

Michael Chandra: Argh. Anyway, I'm glad that move was made. Wonder if it counts, can he just declare it like that? 03/31/2015 - 9:27am

Zen: Conster - Good, it's a BS law that exists to just allow hate basically. Glad people are standing up to it. Sadly it should never have passed to begin with though.03/31/2015 - 8:39am